ACORD is an insurance company funded non-profit organization that has set standards for the insurance industry for the past 40 years. Last week ACORD announced a major initiative to attract software innovation to the insurance industry. This initiative is open to ALL software developers.

The ACORD Insurance Innovation Challenge is the first insurance-specific technology and innovation competition. It is open to individuals or organizations of any size, from anywhere in the world, with new ideas that can be applied to transform the way the insurance industry does business.

The deadline for applications is April 1, 2015. Finalists will receive a speaking slot before an audience of potential investors, partners, press and employers at ACORD2015, the flagship ACORD event taking place November 2-4, 2015 in Boca Raton, Florida. At ACORD2015, judges will select the winners, some of whom will receive a cash prize to help them bring their ideas to fruition.

If you are interested in obtaining more information, please let me know.

ACORD announced additional details today, including a "prize package", as described below:

"The Insurance Innovation Challenge is the first insurance-specific technology and innovation competition. It is open to individuals or organizations of any size, from anywhere in the world, with new ideas that can be applied to transform the way the insurance industry does business.

Challenge winners will be selected based on their ability to develop products and services that have the potential to bring significant innovation to the industry. Additional winners will be chosen from among organizations who can demonstrate unique and exceptional implementations of ACORD Standards, Forms, or Architecture.

The deadline for applications is May 1, 2015. A Showcase round will be held June 18, 2015 at the ACORD office in Pearl River, New York. Showcase finalists will receive a speaking slot before an audience of potential investors, partners, press and employers at ACORD2015,the flagship ACORD event taking place November 2-4, 2015 in Boca Raton, Florida. At ACORD2015, judges will select the winners, some of whom will receive a cash prize to help them bring their ideas to fruition.

Complete information about the ACORD Insurance Innovation Challenge is available on our website at http://www.acord.org.

Apply Today!​Winners of the ACORD Insurance Innovation Challenge Disrupter Category will receive a prize package worth more than $25,000 including:

-Exposure for your winning innovation at a selection of top industry events for a full year. ACORD will cover your travel, room & board and event registration -Ongoing mentoring and networking with industry leaders and experts for a full year -A promoted webinar where you can demonstrate your winning innovation to the industry -A professionally produced video featuring your winning innovation, distributed via ACORD and other industry communication channels - Coverage of your winning innovation and ongoing promotion in the ACORD newsletter, circulation 40,000, for one year -Ongoing promotion on all ACORD social media channels for one year - Presence and acknowledgement as a previous Innovation Challenge winner at ACORD's 2016 event."

Regarding possible innovative insurance software, that could help the insurance industry and consumers, a former management person at ACORD named Lloyd Chumbley, recently posted the following:

"Digital Auto ID Cards - Too Little, Too Late?Mar 5, 2015In her latest daily post, Insurance Entertainment author Shefi Ben Hutta pointed out that NJ is voting to become the 36th state to accept digital proof of insurance. Today, most insurance companies embed this in an application that can be downloaded to mobile devices. But there is a better way…..

An ID card is only as good as the insurance behind it. In the past, consumers have gotten coverage just long enough to get the card. There is an implication to consumers that digital ID laws will alleviate this problem. However, this fallacy is exposed when you review the legislation which in many states is nothing more than the elimination of paper.

About five years ago, I proposed a single application that could provide digital insurance cards for many companies. This would be based on a standardized interface that would be fed to a central service. The real power here though would not be in the consumer interface which could of course be embedded in any insurance company’s application. Rather the power would be in an application provided to the patrol units and the motor vehicle departments to confirm coverage by license plate or vehicle identification number.

Today, more than a dozen states have in place such applications making not just paper identification cards obsolete, but digital ones as well.

(BOTTOM LINE: Digital and paper ID cards should have one purpose: when you need to exchange information with another driver in a minor accident not necessitating a police officer.)"

So visualize being able to instantly verify driver identity and proof of insurance with a simple mobile app interface that instantly checks against each state's database. For the U.S. a developer could pick one big state like Massachusetts that has a central database showing who is insured (ie. MA Registry of Motor Vehicles) and setup a proof of concept that could later be expanded throughout the U.S. and other parts of the world. Following an accident the new app would allow drivers to instantly exchange required contact and insurance information by clicking on their mobile device. This would not only be faster, it would also greatly improve safety, as drivers would not have to spend excessive time on the side of the road at night and/or under bad weather conditions.

There is an opportunity here. If interested in pursuing it, please send me an email.

ACORD (a non-profit funded by both insurance companies and insurance agencies) has received over 100 submissions from software companies with new ideas to transform the insurance industry.

The number and quality of submissions has encouraged insurance companies to set aside money to invest in such companies. This is something new for the insurance industry, which has historically been very conservative.